Thursday, September 05, 2013

Immigration Hangout: A Chat About 'Border Security' and the Minutemen

Juanita Molina from the Border Action Network in Tucson, Arizona,
will discuss how these groups and personalities shaped the debate over
immigration reform in her state.

Julieta Garibay from United We DREAM will explain how that discussion led to a growing push to militarize the border.

Frank Sharry from America's Voice, who moderated.

Hope you find this enlightening. Many thanks to Frank Sharry, Matt Hildreth and Joe Sudbay for making the hangout happen.

Along the same lines, be sure to check out the interview I did with David Kortava at The Mantle in which some of the same issues are raised:

I think a lot of people really underestimate the influence and power
and impact of these kinds of groups on the mainstream right. They tend
to have a gravitational effect on conservatives, pulling them farther
towards the right. A lot of the positions we’re seeing bandied about now
as normative—particularly within the Tea Party—were the views of
radical militia types back in the 1990s.

Rightwing extremism has broader impacts on society. It’s true that
only something like 8 or 9 percent of hate crimes are committed by
members of hate groups; the vast majority are committed by people who
are otherwise considered mainstream normal kids, usually young men. But
something like seventy percent of these crimes are accompanied by
verbiage associated with hate groups. In other words, you have people
picking up on cultural cues from the extremist right and incorporating
them into their worldview, even if they aren’t necessarily adopting the
broader ideology.

Anti-immigration organizations like the Federation for American
Immigration Reform (FAIR) hand out these pseudo-academic studies
suggesting that immigrants are using up taxpayer money, bringing in
disease, and committing crime. While none of this true, it does produce a
toxic effect on the conversation about immigration. Instead of focusing
on the problem—antiquated laws—we focus on the supposed criminality of
people who are themselves victims, victims both of those laws and of the
economic forces compelling them to make these death-defying crossings
through the desert.

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.